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As per the wiki, Murasme ...

... is a poisonous blade that can kill a person with only one cut. Once the sword pierces skin, it injects a lethal poison into the victim, killing them within seconds. Akame states that cleaning this weapon is very dangerous because of this ability.

In the anime, episode 24 to be exact, she cuts herself when fighting Esdeath to get a massive power boost for a few minutes by supposedly using the strength of all the people she has killed. Based on what I've seen in the anime and the discussions around the blade, she should have died, why didn't she?

iKlsR
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  • I don't know for sure, but based on her comment when she fought one of the 4 demons (around episode 18), if the sword doesn't like someone, they will be killed. So if the sword likes her, it probably helps her get stronger? – nhahtdh Dec 16 '14 at 14:57
  • @nhahtdh Yes, i remember Bulat saying something way back that your IA can take a liking to you but I would have expected her to die after the boost. This is just a huge contradiction in the storyline. – iKlsR Dec 16 '14 at 15:04
  • @iKlsR Since when the anime team had interest in the real storyline? ... – deviantfan Dec 16 '14 at 18:57
  • yes curious to see how this actually plays out in the manga. I wouldn't be surprised if Akame actually does this, gains the power boost but then dies in the end. – stevebot Dec 23 '14 at 22:34

6 Answers6

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It indeed is very confusing.

In episode 4 of the anime, Akame tells this to Tatsumi in the alley:

Maintaining it is nerve-raking

referring to her sword. She continues and says

If you accidentally cut your finger, you die instantly

Keeping the above in mind, I think there are three possibilities:

  1. She was not aware of the hidden power of the sword at that moment (in episode 4) and later on found that she can cut herself to get the cursed power for a short period. This behavior of an imperials arm has been seen at other places too, where Esdeath did not initially know that she can stop time, but she learned that after Tatsumi escaped her.
  2. She knew that if she cuts herself with her sword, she would get the cursed powers, but at that moment in episode 4, she wanted to signify that even an invincible looking imperial arms can have weaknesses.
  3. The last possibility is that the hidden ability of the sword cannot be simply invoked. So when she actually does not want to use the hidden ability and she gets cut by the sword, she might die.

Furthermore, in the last episode, while using the hidden ability, Akame thinks

Even if this consumes me

which indicates that prolonged/over use of the ability might lead the user to get consumed by the curse itself.

In any of three scenarios, I think the anime overall was really nice and it just left some open ended questions to the imagination of the viewers.

Optimizer
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  • Highly speculative but good points in general. The last paragraph somewhat coincides with what I think would happen with these trump cards, eventual death. – iKlsR Dec 25 '14 at 12:01
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Many teigu (Imperial Arms) have demonstrated a deep connection with their user, and they have shown to be very adaptable. Many teigu have a hidden ability based on an extension of the teigu's root power:

  • Incursio's invisibility is derived from the Danger Beast, Tyrant that the armor was made from.
  • Susanoo's power increases significantly by borrowing the power from its user's life force.
  • Pumpkin's power increases based on the user's emotional energy.
  • Demon's Extract extends the power to freeze time and space.

Based on this, we can derive that a given teigu's "trump card" is an extension of the original power.

It was previously stated by Lubbock that Akame couldn't use Murasame's hidden ability for an unknown reason (chapter 52). There is no information that alludes as to what this might be, though we can take a guess:

  • A prerequisite.

    • Killing her sister would be a likely one, as that was one big emotional hurdle for Akame.
    • Another possible prerequisite would be Akame's acceptance of those that she killed.

  • A risk.

    • Akame states "Even if this consumes me, I'll kill you." She must be aware of some risk that either drains life force (such as Susanoo) or causes some form of strain or harm to the user.
    • We also see that Akame is initially affected by the curse, but then the curse disappears. This could mean that Akame must overcome the curse in order to gain its power, whether it be a one-time event or once for each time that she activates this ability.

Until it is explained in the manga, we cannot be 100% certain the exact reason she does not die. We already know that the poison is the key to activating this trump card, and that she had to push back the effects of the poison to do so. However there is no information stating why she couldn't use this ability before, or how she is capable of using it now. However regardless of what process she uses, she is nullifying the poison's effect and therefore won't die from it.

Thebluefish
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  • Great answer, I was putting one together that included these. There is also General Liver's Black Marlin which allowed him to manipulate blood instead of the usual water at a deadly cost. The conclusion I reached from all of these is that they are probably one time uses over a period and put immense strain on the user afterwards, be it by sapping life force or exhaustion. I also believe these trump cards are intended to kill the user but willpower/perseverance can deter this. Let's see what the manga says when they get to it. – iKlsR Dec 25 '14 at 11:53
  • @iKlsR I got a different impression. While the hidden abilities puts great strain on the user, I don't think they were designed to kill the user. – Thebluefish Dec 25 '14 at 20:02
  • Yh, I was thinking of Liver and Bols but I might have over analyzed. – iKlsR Dec 25 '14 at 20:27
  • I think Incursio hidden ability is the evolution power. The invisibility one is fairly known. – Mindwin Remember Monica Mar 15 '15 at 22:34
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SPOILER FROM MANGA!

Whoever read the manga knows that Kurome is still alive, so how is Kurome's death the prerequisite to use the trump card? I think that is because the blade consumes the humanity of the user (I remember that Akame said that before) and, because of the risk and that the curse gave her a nice tattoo, the trump card can be only use once. So if she used that before, how she is supposed to face the world's strongest women?

Happy Face
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Talles Tayrone
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I had assumed it's because she has an affinity with the blade. And like Esdeath, she overcame its curse. The reason why she mentions maintaining it is nerve-wracking could be out of fear of harming others around her, or because the power of cutting herself with the blade is so draining that it would eventually kill her. So naturally she'd only ever want to do that in a life or death situation, like the final battle.

Kyle Smith
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Akame already knew about the trump card when she first got murasame and what will happen to her if she uses the trump card. Her father told her before she killed him and took murasame. He said that you have to discard your own humanity to use the trump card meaning she has to kill the person she loved the most. The curse is slowly killing her. she will die at a young age. but the main reason why she didn't get killed by murasame when she cut herself is because she will carry all the lives that she took with murasame with her. you have to kill the person you love the most and accept all the lives you took with murasame and bring out your inner demon. thats why she didn't die. i hope this helps you

Julie Akaashi
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Murasame recognizes Akame as its true wielder, Murasame remembers all the people Akame killed, and cutting herself knowing poison will go into her body is taking responsibility for all the people Akame killed. The sword is conscious, it can tell good from bad, you can piss it off too(the time an enemy insulted the sword then tried to use it against Akame). Anyways, resisting the poison, the sword gave her major power and speed boosts, fast enough to leave an afterimage caused by Esdeaths bloodlust when she froze time.

Tim
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  • When you write a speculative answer, please write it from a neutral point of view, rather than writing them as statement of truth. Please take a look at top voted answers as reference. – nhahtdh Aug 10 '15 at 08:06